THE ROLE OF THE FAMILY IN PREVENTION OF HIV/AIDS AMONG YOUTHS IN THE SOCIETY: A CASE STUDY OF OSHIMILI SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF DELTA STATE
CHAPTERÂ ONE
INTRODUCTION
The family is the oldest institution on earth, and plays a vital role in human society. Throughout history, the family institution has always exited.
According to the international Encyclopedia of the social sciences, of all the agent of socialization, the family has been described the most immediate and most important. It is recognized that most of the world’s societies are characterized by one or two types of the family organization both of which revolve around a relatively permanent mother and Father relationship.
In the nuclear family characteristic of the most Western societies, the family unit is made up of mother, father and immediate children. Extended family which account for a greater proportion of the world’s population are composed of parents, immediate children, grandparents and on occasion other relatives. In the arrangement, grandparents are looked after by their children. The secret of family happiness (1996).
A number of important social changes have taken place in the family unit in recent decades. Many of them linked with wider implications for the understanding of the contemporary Nigeria family and its role in child rearing.
“in oriental societies, strong extended family ties were traditional. However, under the influence of western style individualism and the stress of economic problems, the traditional extended family is weakening. Many in Germany seem to be abandoning the traditional family altogether. The 1990’s saw 35% of all Germany household made up of two individuals. The French too are marrying less often and those who do marry, divorce more often earlier than those used to be the case. Growing number prefer to live together without the responsibilities of marriages. No doubt, divorce is becoming increasingly common.   There has been a surge in the number of single parent families, the secret of family happiness (1996).
With increasing urbanization, the formerly cohesive community group of which the family was as intrinsic part is largely disappearing. Nuclear families typically live in large proportion and transient suburban communities or in equally characterized by a high degree of isolation one form another.
